


Crush

by wherehopelies



Category: All Cheerleaders Die (2013)
Genre: Aww, Childhood Friends, F/F, First Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 06:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4993960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherehopelies/pseuds/wherehopelies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Terry is a jerk and boys are gross and Maddy has something to say about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crush

Maddy’s dad always tells everyone that she’s “one of the boys” and she doesn’t get it.

Maddy doesn’t like boys.

They’re gross and mean. They’re always picking their noses and chasing her and pulling on her hair.

Or at least they used to do that… until she gave Georgie Shank a bloody nose for stealing her hat. Mr. Wolf called her dad and she got in trouble, but it was worth it.

Georgie and Cody haven’t come near her in a week.

This is great news, obviously! Except for one thing.

Now they won’t leave the other girls alone, either.

It’s none of her business, probably. The other girls aren’t exactly the nicest to her. Not that they’re mean, but Maddy has noticed that they all seem to be into stuff that she’s not really into. Like Barbies. And nail polish.

Maddy is into soccer. And cartwheels. And definitely not Bratz Dolls.

So yeah, they don’t have that much to talk about.

Maddy usually spends recess like she is right now, alone or with Leena. But Leena isn’t at school today, so Maddy is practicing on the monkey bars.

She can get across them in ten seconds now, but she thinks it will probably be nine if she can make it to the seventh bar without getting tired.

She’s working on it.

She’ll be eight next week so maybe by then!

She swinging from the fifth bar to the sixth bar, her hands sweaty and slippery on the hot metal of the playground equipment, when she hears a girl scream. She pauses, her hands gripping the bars with all of her might, and turns her head just in time to see Terry pull the head off of Martha’s Barbie.

The girl bursts into tears, yelling something about telling the teacher on him, and runs off. Maddy feels a burn growing on her palms, the telltale sign that she’s probably going to get blisters, and her arms shake as she tries to hang onto the bars.

She swings her legs back and forth to get momentum again, but it’s no use and she knows it, so she drops to the ground, bending in a crouch to weaken the landing. The woodchips beneath her press into her hands and she hisses, standing up quickly so they won’t make her blisters worse.

Stupid Terry.

She pulls the strap of her overalls up farther on her shoulder and squints her eyes at the boy. He’s now sneering at Tracy Bingham, his beady eyes looking down at her crossed arms.

Maddy thinks he has a crush on her, which is gross.

Maddy doesn’t understand crushes either. Her family is always talking about them, especially because Maddy’s older sister is 13 and is what her mom calls “boy crazy.” She doesn’t get it. Boys are gross and why would anyone ever want to be crushed?

It makes no sense.

“Don’t, Terry. Martha will be back soon with Mr. Wolf and then you’ll be in trouble.” Tracy uncrosses her arms and pokes him in the chest.

Terry sticks his tongue out. “You can’t tell me what to do, Tracy.”

Maddy watches as he flits his hand out, his dark fingers disappearing into Tracy’s hair. Tracy squeals, a high-pitched scream that hurts Maddy’s ears, as Terry yanks on her hair violently.

Something inside Maddy flares up, like when she’s playing Mario Kart with her sister and gets hit by a blue shell. Those shells aren’t fair! And they make her so mad. Watching Terry pull Tracy’s hair makes her feel that angry now. No. Not… not even angry.

Pissed.

She knows it’s a bad word, but she’s so mad.

“Hey, Terry!”

She doesn’t even realize she’s been stomping across the woodchips until she’s right in front of him. He’s bigger than her, but not that big. He’s not any scarier than Cody or Georgie.

“Go away, Maddy. Mind your own beeswax.” Terry rolls his eyes, but pulls his arm away from Tracy’s hair.

“What, are you scared of a girl?” Tracy’s long hair brushes against her arm in the breeze as she stands closer to her. Maddy feels giant even though she’s pretty tiny.

“I’m not scared of you, stupid.” Terry scowls and pushes his hands flat against her chest, giving her a shove.

She stumbles a little, but it’s back into Tracy so she doesn’t fall over.

Then Maddy does something her dad always told her she shouldn’t do…

She kicks Terry right in his man parts.

Her worn down Adidas connect with his crotch and the sound that comes out of his mouth reminds Maddy of her two-year old cousin Cooper right before he starts crying. It’s annoying.

Maddy steps back, her eyes widening. “Oh.”

“Mr. Wolf!” Terry yells from where he’d fallen over on the woodchips of the playground. “Mr. Wolf, did you see what Maddy did?”

“Shit,” Maddy mutters and Tracy gasps.

“Maddy!”

Maddy grabs Tracy’s hand. “Come on.” She pulls Tracy her across the playground to the little hut enclosure thing under the slide.

They’re both breathing heavily from running and Maddy peeks her head out to see where Terry is. Martha has brought Mr. Wolf over and is showing the now the headless Barbie to him. As Maddy watches, Mr. Wolf pulls Terry up off the ground and leads him inside. Martha sits back down, pretending to brush the Barbie’s hair despite its missing body.

Maddy spins around. “We’re in the clear,” she says, tugging on her overall strap nervously. She’s not sure if Tracy will yell at her or not. Maybe she has a crush on Terry, too.

“Good.” Tracy smiles and Maddy thinks she’s super pretty. She likes Tracy’s dress. Not for her. Because gross. But for Tracy. “Terry is so mean. And I think he still wets his pants sometimes at night. Cody told Martha who told me.”

Maddy laughs. “He shouldn’t have pulled your hair. It’s so pretty and light. Not like mine.”

Tracy tilts her head to the side, eyebrows pinching in in confusion. “I like yours. It looks soft.”

Maddy shrugs. “I use conditioner.”

“Hey!” Tracy giggles. “Me, too. This girl Janet at gymnastics doesn’t, even though I told her it would make her hair super nice.”

Maddy feels herself smiling. “You like gymnastics?”

Tracy grins back. “Yeah, do you?”

Maddy nods. “Yeah. I like cartwheels.”

“Cartwheels are so fun!” Tracy claps her hands excitedly. “I can almost do a handstand without help for like a minute.”

Maddy’s mouth drops open in amazement. “You can?”

“Yeah!”

They stare at each other for a second and Maddy feels her cheeks get hot. She doesn’t know why. But Tracy is so… just so. So something. Maddy’s dad says she frowns too much, but looking at Tracy right now, she can’t stop smiling.

Tracy squeezes Maddy’s arm. “Wanna do cartwheels with me until recess is over?”

“Okay.” Maddy nods, and it makes Tracy smile the biggest and prettiest smile Maddy has ever seen. It makes her feel like she’s on the tilt-o-whirl from the carnival she went to with her sister over the summer. All spinning and dizzy and bright.

“Come on!” Tracy grabs her hand and starts leading them toward the field at the end of the playground. Maddy’s palm is sweating and it feels like her lungs are about to crush her heart.

Just crush it right in!

Oh.

Oh.

She watches Tracy flip through the air once, her hair flying around her in a golden blur, before she stands up straight. Her face is slightly pink and she smiles her tilt-o-whirl smile again and Maddy’s heart does a cartwheel of its own.

Maybe she finally gets what everyone is talking about.

Maybe… just maybe… she finally has a crush.

**Author's Note:**

> currently at spookyjunkle.tumblr.com but you can usually find me at emilyjunklegacy


End file.
